It seems like EPCOT always has something going on. Whether it’s a festival, or a renovation, or both, There’s always something to do there. Now, I know, you might be thinking, “I thought EPCOT is the boring, educational park,” or something, but believe me, it’s far from boring. That’s used to be what I thought, but now I love going to EPCOT, and now I want to tell you about my all time favorite festival, the Festival of the Arts. This festival celebrates art, music, cooking, and acting from all over the world. This year, the festivals have been a lot less, but they still have some of the fun things.
Whenever you first walk into EPCOT, and there’s a festival going on (which there usually is), you’ll see a sign that says what festival it is. You can take a photo similar to the one above, taken by a Photopass photographer. You can also pick up a little festival passport for that festival, telling you where various stuff is. If you keep going to the pin trading shop under Spaceship Earth (the EPCOT ball), you can buy a festival scavenger hunt. Some prizes are better than others, so if you’re doing it for the prize, but you don’t really like the prize, don’t waste $7 on a scavenger hunt. We didn’t do this scavenger hunt, but my friend Avery did, and the prize wasn’t that great this year. It was just a cardboard model that you could put together. Next year, you will have the entire festival to complete and turn in your scavenger hunt. Hopefully, next year the prize will be better.
Usually, Disney will have chalk artists out drawing these amazing drawings. This past year, they unfortunately didn’t have them out for safety reasons.
Isn’t that amazing? And, for guests, you can usually draw your own stuff in a blocked off section, but once again, they didn’t have that this year. Hopefully next year….
Disney also has paint by number murals. This year, you could do it! When I did it, the mural was more than halfway done. The mural this year was showcasing all the new attractions coming to EPCOT this year (or within the next few years. See my Disney 2021 blog.) On weekends, the lines tend to be really long for this, due to social distancing, so you might want to do this during the middle of the week. We went on a Wednesday, and there was no line for it. So, if you go to Disney World during the Festival of the Arts, try to plan to go to EPCOT during the middle of the week if you want to do this experience.
This past year, all the festivals have been toned down a bit, but there was still the special animation experience in EPCOT. Unfortunately, we were not able to make it to any of them this year (we tend to arrive later in the afternoon, after all the showings.), but I have done it many times in Animal Kingdom.
If you are into art, or you just want a unique experience, I definitely recommend this amazing class. It’s completely free (well, it comes with your park ticket, but whatever), and you can keep your drawing, so you sort of get a free souvenir out of it. Well, like I said, not really, but it’s not an extra fee, either.
Shopping
As you have probably noticed, Disney has merchandise for all ages and budgets. (To read more about saving money at Disney World, read my How to Budget Your Money at Walt Disney World blog.) And during the festivals, there are no exceptions to this rule. You can buy anything for a pair of festival ears to an expensive table. (Yes, you can buy tables. We almost got a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves one.) These tables and other pieces of artwork are exclusive to the Festival of the Arts, so if you see artwork that you really like, don’t say that you’ll get it on your next visit, because they won’t have it again. Even the next year, it will be different. So, seriously, don’t hesitate when getting limited edition merchandise, especially when it’s from an outside source. At least Disney’s merchandise is available at the outlet stores afterwards. I’ve gotten plenty of stuff that they don’t sell anymore, both at Cast Connections and Character Warehouse. But those tables will not be at the outlet stores, even though Cast Connections does have old furniture from the parks and resorts. (I’m not joking. They also have old dishes, pots and pans, and silverware.) Whatever company made and brought them to the festival will take whatever they didn’t sell home with them, and most likely sell them wherever they live.
What is your favorite part of this festival? Personally, I like the paint by number mural, just because I’m an artist, but you might just not like this festival at all.
Adventures Made by MEE 